BL9-3 is the dedicated XAS side station on the new 16-pole 2T wiggler beam line 9 funded primarily by DOE-OBER with some experimental station components and SSRL staff being partly supported by the NIH BTP. BL9-3 provides a broad x-ray energy range, with focussed beam from ~4 keV to ~23 keV, and unfocussed beam up to ~30 keV. The beam line was commissioned during 1998 with extensive testing of all optical elements, and definition of the most optimal settings and alignments, obtaining a focal spot of 0.6 x 4.3 mm. Towards the very last part of the run, the beam line was successfully used for several experiments. It is equipped with a 30-element Ge detector system, a LHe cryostat, an newly designed optical alignment rail system including a remotely controlled Ge detector alignment stage, two motorized beam slit systems, an in-hutch sample protection shutter and a dedicated simple ionization chamber detector.